


Always For Her

by ziegler



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: (spoilers for the timeskip phase), Edeleth, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kisses, Romance, Spoilers, Tenderness, Yuri, black eagles - Freeform, minor depictions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23302384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziegler/pseuds/ziegler
Summary: After a particularly arduous day on the battlefield, Byleth and Edelgard are both exhausted; and share some tender moments of affection.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 13
Kudos: 146





	Always For Her

**Author's Note:**

> some super exciting news from my neck of the woods; the 18+ yuri visual novel i'm working on called Love Bakudan recently got funded on kickstater!!! it was an overwhelming success, and i honestly wouldn't be here without everyone's support. we ended up hitting every single stretch goal - thank you so much if you backed it or even helped promote it! there will probably be a bit of a drought in fanfiction my end after this one as i've got a lot to do as the sole writer, so i hope that's okay. 
> 
> i wanted to write a lil something as well for the good folks over in the edeleth rights discord server. thank you so much for how kind you have been to me and how much you helped me out in my time of need. i really appreciate it so much - thank you for all your help ♥♥♥
> 
> anyway, i've not usually dabbled too much in fics from byleth's perspective, so i thought this would be a refreshing way to approach my typical edeleth style of things. hope you enjoy!

The sight of the tents provided at each battlefield's designated safe area were always the same, and Byleth Eisner had begun to grow weary at the sight of them.

The cold air licked at her cheek beneath the growing greys of the overhead dusk. How long had she been here now, _here_ in the same, tense environments of war? The rough tweed of the weathered tents that surrounded her was getting old; not to mention the unsavory stench of wet earth and coppery blood wafting in from afar.

“...This...” she began to say, distantly and to nobody in particular, before taking in an icy breath and closing her lips.

Her eyes were tired. She could see beneath the fading red of the setting sun that, up on the hill where Edelgard and her other companions had successfully won the battle, that there lay the shadows of a thousand corpses; stripped of their mortality and ushered on to a new life. Her emperor - no, her everything - Edelgard von Hresvelg, had always locked herself away from the world after a particularly gruesome day. Byleth knew as well as anyone that she hated the bloodshed being a necessary evil. She didn't blame her. The bile always rose to her throat, too, whenever she felt the crunch of her sword enter someone else's ribcage.

For a woman such as herself, the world was always a daily struggle in a new way that transcended an average life. Her Emperor's requests – no matter how much she truly believed in her, and certainly how much they were necessary - were always a struggle through what they required of them both. It was a duty both women saw through to the best of their abilities...even if she did get a little lost in the daydreams of wanting to be with Edelgard somewhere beautiful.

“Professor,” the voice of a man in particular reached her ears earlier that day; scolding her for daydreaming. “Do not lose your momentum.”

“Ah! Sorry, Hubert.”

“You know as well as I do that Edelgard counts on you far more than any of us here...you are her one glimmer of hope in this cold wasteland of war.”

The winds only seemed to get colder the longer she stood out here. Yes, the life of a mercenary was a daily struggle. And outside of the battlefield, Byleth also found the strangers constantly judging her was getting annoying, even if they were just trying to help. All of _this_ – the lifestyle, the battles – god, it was all growing a little bit _too_ familiar for her and Edelgard, even for someone who hadn't come from a noble bloodline. She felt a little ashamed of herself to even allow any thoughts like that when she knew it was already such turmoil for Edelgard to even put herself in this position.

She sighed.

“How did things come to this?” she asked herself, and folded her armour-clad arms with a clatter of metal against each other gently. All Byleth really wanted to do was live a peaceful life with the Emperor she loved, and to have found such a love in such trauma was something that could only be described as a miracle anyway.

Byleth was able to count the amount of good things in life these days on one hand. She often found herself laying awake at night, consumed with an insomniac cocktail of paranoia and hope for a better life. Typically speaking, Byleth could never get out of her own head; lost in a sea of thought, wasn’t this what life on the battlefield, besides her beloved, was supposed to be? Wasn’t this the kind of life _everybody_ in this line of work chased?

Fighting for the right cause, adored by the people she'd saved alongside the Empire, constantly travelling to new places with Edelgard at her side...

Why did it all seem so... _bleak?_

“Another day, another battle…” she mumbled. “I might as well live at these god-forsaken places.”

Byleth found herself on the way back to another tent, and allowed herself to exhale a heavy sigh.

So far, in the line of work she had found herself in, there had been minimal reasons for excitement. The glory of winning and the adoring population were always nice for a quick fix, but there was a much nicer reason closer to home that always kept her grounded. A reason that had never changed, or grown old, or had given her any reason to think less of it. A reason where, on her worst days, this person was always the one that gave her a shoulder to cry on, and in turn, she found her own shoulder often wet with the tears that her Emperor had wept for the fallen.

Edelgard von Hresvelg. Byleth may have been her personal hope too, but that feeling was very mutual. No matter how exhausted she grew, or how weary the battles felt, Edelgard was always her own version of a personal beacon, like a bright torch that glimmered in a dark hallway; shining twice as bright as the sun and burning twice as warm. The admiration Byleth held for her often carried her through the days. It was something she never took for granted.

Edelgard's good heart was the only reason Byleth really bothered to work as hard as she did. She'd seen the sensitive sides to her behind closed doors; she'd felt her gentle kisses for herself.

She knew, better than anyone, that Edelgard was determined to save this world from eating itself alive.

“…I wonder if she’s already made it back here.”

As the same sights of her comrades greeted her eyes again, Byleth found that she, too, had mentally come up for air again. Everybody she valued had survived. _Edelgard_ had survived. At the end of the day, that was all that really mattered to her.

And her comrades, too, were all in one piece. Bernadetta was unscathed, as usual, having danced around the battlefield with bow in hand; chatting with Shamir and Petra about something or other, sat on the rickety old benches that seemed planted everywhere on these campsites. Caspar and Lindhardt were bickering, as usual, and Dorothea had been caught up in talking with some of the lower-ranking knights with hearts in their eyes at her presence. Ferdinand and Hubert were always suspicously missing around this time of the evening, too.

Another battle was over; and even Byleth had to admit, even here stuck in the exhaustion and the plight, she always did love the sense of relief that followed.

This time, it wasn't too tough of a fight. Rhea and her cohorts had tried – and _failed_ – to pull a surprise attack, losing grievous numbers in the process. Byleth had been sharing the battlefield with not just her companions, but with the person she'd always found her heart blossoming for. The ferocity in her eyes that always rose to the surface in a fight, the way her battleaxe sung as it sliced through the air; Edelgard was a moving, living, breathing work of art. She always got lost in those moments of awe.

Byleth knew that, should Edelgard have made it back, she would be awaiting her inside the Emperor's tent. Turning around in the bitter cold, she began to walk down to her loved one's quarters; leaving behind the sight of the dishevelled, distant battlefield. Her legs were so unbelievably exhausted. God, she was so damn _tired_. They all were. All this fighting; all that blood. She knew Edelgard had already had enough.

But they hadn’t come here alone.

Because in her companions; her own little family, cultivated by her teachings and strengthened by her affections; were always carrying each other in the best ways they knew how, no matter how beat they all were. Byleth always did appreciate that about the people she had in her heart, and she appreciated the ways that herself and Edelgard had led them to so many victories.

But Edelgard was what mattered the most.

Byleth had lost count of all the times Edelgard had placed her own wellbeing above herself. Despite their past, where Edelgard had been her student and Byleth had - more or less, anyway - been her teacher, it wasn’t out of the question for this particular woman to stay behind on the field to make sure everyone got home, no matter how Byleth protested or insisted that she could leave. Byleth really had lost track of the amount of times she had insisted that everyone would be fine getting back on their own, only for Edelgard to place one trembling hand on her shoulder.

“Go back and wait for me, Byleth,” Edelgard would so often say, her arm shaking from the amount of times it had swung and succeeded that day, with a breathless tone of voice.

“You know I can wait here instead, El. None of these soldiers are looking directly at me as much as they would be for your crimson armour.”

Edelgard always faltered upon hearing that nickname tumble out of Byleth's lips. Byleth, even standing here, can remember the looks she'd give Edelgard.

_Please come back with me. Please don't give them an opportunity to take you from me._

It was an unusual sort, to experience these deep-set emotions.

“I’m not leaving until you're all home safely, but especially you, Byleth. You never know what Rhea might have planned for us individually. I seem to remember her being particularly besotted with you, as well. ”

Byleth remembered how, even in the middle of that particular battlefield, she had embrace Edelgard.

The stench of copper and rust around them didn't bother her. Edelgard's armour being wet with the splatterings of blood didn't bother her. Edelgard's tears were what bothered her the most.

“I love you.”

It just felt natural to say it suddenly, like that.

Edelgard's eyes had widened, and Byleth had watched the process going on inside her mind. Shock at hearing such a forward declaration, despite having heard it hundreds of times by now. Relief, at knowing that even here, Byleth still loved her. And then the slight, but noticeable protrusion of the tears that stung the edges of her eyes.

“Oh, my love...” Edelgard whispered, choked by her overwhelming adoration springing forth. “I adore _you_ more than words can say. Which is why you need to go back to the camp and wait for me.”

“But -”

“Byleth...give me something to look forward to...please.”

Byleth paused with Edelgard in her arms, and began stroking the back of her neck.

“...Alright,” she resignedly said. “If that's what you want.”

“What I want is for you to be safe. That really is it. You are everything, both in this world of ours at large...and my very own private one, too.”

Byleth felt the pang of love and urgency surge in her heart, and resignedly allowed herself to oblige Edelgard's request.

Carried by her own footsteps down the damp mud of the fields, Byleth had gnawed at her lip in anxiety. Did Edelgard make it back in one piece? She hoped so. Edelgard always returned with a small group of elite troops at her side, and always made sure to sneak around the main path. Byleth would never have seen her coming, even if she did insist on looking out, lovelorn, towards the battlefield. But a part of her always hopes she'll get to see her, anyway.

And in the present moment, Byleth stood short of the tent door. With an uneasy exhale, she tentatively reached out to pull back the curtain door, and thinking back on the incidents of the last few days with this woman in question, a smile managed to reach her lips.

Edelgard von Hresvelg was the world's most capable warrior. She would, surely, be back by now.

Byleth sighed, irritated by her personal emotional turmoil, and turned her attention to the sounds of the birds cawing in the sky above her.

“…El…” she mumbled. “…Please be here.”

Her whisper lingered like a ghost, and, as Byleth squeezed her eyes shut, she opened the dressing room door gently.

_Why am I closing my eyes? No, I know she must be here..._

“Byleth...”

Byleth’s squeezed eyes pinged open with a small gasp from her lips, as a tired voice she knew so well reached her ears.

“Ah! You're back!”

With almost a whoosh of air as she shot up from her bed, Edelgard threw herself into Byleth's arms.

 _She looks so dishevelled_ , thought Byleth, and held Edelgard's tiny frame inside her warm embrace. She looked so much smaller, so much less imposing without her grand Emperor's armour to cover her body, and her skin feels so much gentler than the metal of her usual outfit, too. Byleth's hands pull her lover close against her, and Edelgard buries her face into the crook of Byleth's neck.

“You're safe...” Byleth breathes out in relief, as her lips brush the tip of Edelgard's hair. “I always hate that I -”

As though she knew that talking would only lead to more talking, Edelgard quickly covered Byleth's lips with her own in a needy, soft kiss.

The two of them stood like this for what must have been minutes. It felt like hours in the best possible way; being enraptured by one another, completely closed off from the traumas and the deaths of the world outside. Edelgard's lips moved slowly, softly; taking in every single piece of Byleth for her own. And Byleth, too, kissed back with the same adoration that Edelgard had; tenderly holding her close against her tired body.

“Lay with me,” Edelgard eventually breathed after their kiss separated. “I don't want to do anything else but be with you.”

Byleth nodded, an understanding smile on her face, and tucked a strand of Edelgard's messy blonde hair behind her ear.

“Alright.”

 _She looks sleepy_ , though Byleth, and stroked Edelgard's cheek with her hand.

Edelgard placed her own hand on the palm that cupped her face, pressing herself warmly into her touch, and allowing her lavender eyes to flicker shut.

“Your touch...it always feels so...”

“Correct?”

“Yes,” Edelgard replied quietly, and kissed her lover's palm. “As though this hand was made for my body.”

Byleth felt her eyes smile.

Edelgard touched Byleth's hand once again, before slipping her own into it with a firm grab, and leading her over to the makeshift, feather-stuffed bed that her servants had made for her. Laying down on it with a soft thud, Edelgard let out a weary groan, and as Byleth began to take off her battle gear, she slipped underneath the sheets next to her lover.

“A horrible day was had by all.”

“Mm...” Byleth replied, as Edelgard shifted her body to press up warmly against Byleth's side. “It was particularly...gruesome today.”

“I hate this....I hate all of this. This constant, uphill battle...I loathe it, so much.”

Byleth stroked Edelgard's hair behind her ear.

“The battles will be over soon enough, El. Just...keep in mind what we're all fighting for.”

“Oh, I do. I _firmly_ keep in my mind just who we're fighting against,” Edelgard replied with a scoff directed at her enemies, “and just what I must do to that abomination of a woman, when the time comes. If she can even be _called_ that.”

Byleth nodded softly, and rest her chin on Edelgard's head as they lay. Edelgard's hand rest across Byleth's hip, and her other hand softly twirled the edges of Byleth's hair around her fingertips.

“I still can't get used to seeing your hair like this.”

“Tell me about it. I miss my old navy locks, too.”

Edelgard smiled, and a girlish blush returned to her cheeks.

“If I had known all of this were to happen five years prior, I would have been a much happier girl than I am now.”

“Hm? You're not happy now?”

“Of course I am. You're the only thing that keeps me from going insane. You know that.”

Byleth smiled sympathetically, stroking her slightly exposed lower back with an affectionate touch. Edelgard nestled a little more against her body with a grumble.

“You care far too much for all of us, you know. You need to start heading back with the group and not waiting for an ambush opportunity.”

“Yes, well…you know me. I like to be thorough.”

“I like to think I do,” Byleth replied with a firm grin present in her voice. “Thank you for making sure I'm alright.”

“Honestly, whilst I worry for you, I worry more about our companions.” Edelgard said with a groan. “They're all so...careless. When I am the one caring about everyone's safety, things must be bad.”

“Careless?” Byleth exclaimed with a laugh in disbelief. “I think they're a rather organized bunch, if you ask me.”

“They all hate being alone. Travelling in a group is a terrible idea, as it means more risk of ambush. And...there may be a day when I am not there to supervise their wellbeing.”

Byleth and Edelgard feel a poignant silence follow that statement.

“...Your emotions run deep don't they, El?”

“Do you think I do nothing but sit around with my head in books of battle plans?” Edelgard said gruffly, with a warm chuckle to follow. “Of _course_ I keep an eye on you all.”

“Well, if you're busy keeping an eye on them _and_ me,” Byleth replied, and kissed Edelgard's forehead, “then I should hope you don't mind me keeping an eye on _you_.”

“Not in the slightest,” Edelgard replied with a pink blush on her cheeks, and Byleth watched with an affectionate pair of eyes as she saw her lover's own beginning to close of their own voilition.

It had always been this way.

Even back at Garreg Mach, Byleth had always kept a slight eye on the mysterious, powerful young woman of her unit. She was endlessly fascinated by her ability to be so solitary, so driven; such mystery in Edelgard von Hresvelg had become entirely alluring. There was something about this woman that was like a present Byleth just wanted to unwrap.

Edelgard always wanted to make it seem like she didn’t need _anyone_ , and yet, Byleth knew that she needed those that she trusted and loved around her the very most.

“You are a treasure, Edelgard.”

“Byleth...” Edelgard whispered, her eyes still beginning to falter off into a sleepy daze. “Just...just hold me close for the night.”

“I'll not leave your side. You know that.”

“Good...” Edelgard mumbled, trailing off as her arms wrapped tightly around Byleth's waist, and Byleth was all too happy to oblige holding Edelgard close in the midst of the oncoming night.

Love was a mysterious thing. A driving force in the world that served so many different purposes, there was an endless list of reasons to enjoy love. The love of infatuation, the love of battle; even the more carnal desires, such as love of kisses or sex entered the fray. Love was an all encompassing, all dominating beast that so often took over the forefront of the human mind. Love was both a blessing and a curse.

“Sleep now, El...” Byleth whispered gently, and stroked her lover's hair behind her ear once again. “Just...sleep.”

Tucked away in her arms, the only thing that illuminated them were the three candles that rest atop the wooden table besides their bedside. Edelgard's alabaster skin shimmered in the flickers of the light, and her sleeping face was even more beautiful than her waking one. Such untouched innocence, such plain vulnerability that she never showed to anyone; underneath it all, Edelgard von Hresvelg was still just a young woman, and she shouldered such a burden that Byleth was more than determined to help her carry it.

Byleth's hands touched Edelgard's body gently. Stroking the slip of her back that rode up from underneath her shirt, Byleth's arm was serving as a makeshift pillow for Edelgard's head; heavy and fully trusting of the woman she was sleeping against. Byleth found her lips aching for a kiss, but just to be in her Emperor's presence was more than enough.

“Such a beautiful sight...” Byleth mumbled to herself, and felt her eyes growing heavy at the relaxing sight of her beloved in such a tender moment. “We've made it to the end of another day, El. You can rest, now.”

She couldn't wait for the day when Edelgard didn't have to do this anymore. When she didn't have to go out there onto the blood-spattered battlefields and swing her axe any longer, Byleth knew it would be the most perfect day in all of history. She couldn’t restrain the warm smile that crept across her tired face when she watched this supposedly intimidating, ruthless Emperor sleeping so soundly. _That day will come soon,_ she thinks with a smile, and her heart feels soothed for a little while.

Byleth shook her head affectionately. How wrong Rhea was for unleashing the kinds of hell she had upon the world.

As they lay, wrapped up in the dusk of their embrace, Byleth felt her head lull back in a complete, vulnerable relaxation of her own. She smiled, perfectly contented to herself, and rest her head softly against the top of Edelgard's head a little cozier.

She shuffled up closer to the woman she adored, and allowed her own eyes to flicker shut gently. Thoughts began to flood into her mind of Edelgard, even as she lay here, wrapped up like this. Opening her eyes once more, just for a fleeting moment, Byleth found her gaze trail down the tumbling platinum blonde of her lover's hair, and leant back a little to look - just once more, for now - at the pale skin of her face. Byleth could feel herself becoming so hung up on the little details of her loved one that an entire surge began to rush through her body of a desperate, newfound need of wanting to kiss all over again.

But as she looked away from Edelgard’s skin; as she continued to breathe in the gentle, alluring smell of her Emperor's scent; she found her own eyes closing of their own voilition this time.

_Oh…?_

The warmth and safety of the woman next to her was beginning to settle in. The comfortable vibe of the atmosphere was seeping into her skin.

… _I guess I’m more tired than I thought…_

Byleth found her own eyes heavy; her lids warmly resting against her eyeballs, and refusing to open no matter how much she tried to motivate herself. The battle of today _had_ been grating, and it was just so relaxing to be here with Edelgard like this...

_No…_

_I need to…enjoy this moment more…_

It was no use; and eventually, Byleth fell into the vivid dream of her lover's embrace as she slept.

The battles were long and arduous; the casualties of war were always many. But the moments of love, no matter how few or far between they were, had always made sure to remind her of one, simple fact - all of this was _entirely_ worth it, if it was in the name of Edelgard von Hresvelg.

 _And one day,_ Byleth thinks, lost in the shuffle of her mind closing itself off from the world around her, _one day, after all of this is over and the flowers are growing on the fields all over again..._

_I'll be sure to make her my wife._

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to follow me on twitter over [@gloomhoarder](http://www.twitter.com/gloomhoarder)! thank you! ♥


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